Abstract
During colonization of their hosts, pathogens secrete effector proteins to promote disease development through various mechanisms. Increasing evidence shows that the host microbiome plays a crucial role in health, and that hosts actively shape their microbiomes to suppress disease. We proposed that pathogens evolved to manipulate host microbiomes to their advantage in turn. Here, we show that the previously identified virulence effector VdAve1, secreted by the fungal plant pathogen Verticillium dahliae, displays antimicrobial activity and facilitates colonization of tomato and cotton through the manipulation of their microbiomes by suppressing antagonistic bacteria. Moreover, we show that VdAve1, and also the newly identified antimicrobial effector VdAMP2, are exploited for microbiome manipulation in the soil environment, where the fungus resides in absence of a host. In conclusion, we demonstrate that a fungal plant pathogen uses effector proteins to modulate microbiome compositions inside and outside the host, and propose that pathogen effector catalogues represent an untapped resource for new antibiotics.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Nature Plants |
| Pages (from-to) | 1365–1374 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 02.11.2020 |
Funding
We thank M. Giesbers from the Wageningen Electron Microscopy Centre for technical assistance. Work in the laboratory of B.P.H.J.T. is supported by the Research Council Earth and Life Sciences of the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research. B.P.H.J.T. acknowledges support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy: EXC 2048/1, project ID no. 390686111.
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Infection and Inflammation Research (ZIEL)
DFG Research Classification Scheme
- 2.11-01 Biochemistry
